Alaska buying Virgin America? Yes, it’s being widely reported that Alaska Airlines is closing in on a deal to do just that. I’ve long thought that there was some more room for consolidation at the smaller end of the airline industry, but I will admit that a marriage of these two airlines was not high on my wish list. JetBlue was the other reported suitor once Virgin America put itself up for sale, and frankly, I thought JetBlue would be the buyer. They still could be.
Image courtesy of Alaska Airlines
JetBlue almost started as Virgin America, but that’s another blog post. Fleet mix, onboard product, and culture seemed to make make Virgin a more ideal fit for JetBlue. Alaska is a fine airline, but “edgy” is not an adjective that comes to mind when I think of them.
For sure, expanded operations in San Francisco and a handful of transcontinental routes would add something to Alaska’s portfolio. However, these don’t strike me as reasons to drop a rumored purchase price of $2 billion on an airline that just seems incompatible. I’m sure a squadron of MBAs have a few ideas on making it work, but color me skeptical at this point. Leaking details of the deal over the weekend could be a way to loosen up someone else’s wallet……like JetBlue.
-MJ, April 2, 2016
I think one of the bigger questions is what happens if AS does NOT become the winning bidder? That will put JB with a huge foothold on the west coast and that could hurt AS even more than the DL issue in SEA, possibly. This could potentially put AS in a worst position than it finds itself in now. That could make it look around for someone else. Then who? Frontier ? Everyone else out there in the mid market are again all AB’s because they got cheap financing even subsidized from the EU. There is the issue of planes… Read more »
Seems to make sense to me. Alaska is one of the most consistent airlines out there. Virgin also falls in that category as well. Have the other garbage airlines fight it out. While these two thrive. Edgy? Who cares bozo. I’ll take my excellent customer service and reliable service any day.